Hellraiser

INTRODUCTION

Board and card game for 1+ players.
Based on the movies and graphic novels of Hellraiser which are based on the short story “The Hellbound Heart” by Clive Barker.
Each player starts as a dilettante until one opens the gate to Hell.

Links to more information

DISCLAIMER

Hellraiser, the sequel movies, the graphic novels and the toys and merchandise associated with Clive Barker's Hellraiser mythos are copyrighted, trademarked, licensed properties.
This is merely a fan site. All use of art, names and descriptions includes full attribution and links to the original source.

VICTORY

- If the Human players close the gate to Hell, they win.
- If a Skinned Human player gets a skin and closes the gate to Hell, they win. or if the Skinned Human player kills more Humans than the Leviathan players, they win.
- If the Leviathan players cause all Humans to become casualties, they win.

The Decks

Players share a common Search deck until the gateway to Hell is opened. After which the Human players may choose to draw from the Search deck, or the Action deck. The Leviathan players draw from the Leviathan deck.

The Map

There are 36 map tiles. The tiles are either Room tiles which may contain useful items, or corridor tiles. All map tiles are divided into nine squares. If an exit from one tile leads to a wall on another tile - that exit is blocked. Treat it as a wall for both tiles. Map Tiles (designed, some beta examples)

ROOM TILE ITEMS

Bookshelf, wardrobe, steel cabinet and the tall mirror can be Tipped or used as Obstacles.
Desk, water cooler, pot plants, beds and chairs can be used as Obstacles.
Carpets, rugs, curtains and sheets can be used as Restraints.

SETUP

Each player creates a character. Divide 18 points amongst the character's statistics. No statistic can be less than 1 or greater than 6.
Randomly place the map tiles for the Channard Institute to form a 6 x 6 grid. Every tile must have at least one other tile to connect to it, if it doesn't, re-arrange the tiles until they are all interconnected. Before the gateway opens, all players are Human players.

CHARACTER STATISTICS

Physical

Strength : used to beat off attacks, move blockages or grapple others.

Speed : your movement per turn.

Mental

Creativity : used for artistic endeavours.

Wits : used for intelligent endeavours.

Spiritual

Morality : ethical decision making.

Willpower : resistance to torture and influence.

DAMAGE

A character can take 3 types of damage - Physical, Mental or Spiritual. For each point of damage, the player determines which statistic within that category is lowered. No statistic can be reduced below 0 - the other statistic in that category must be reduced if this is the case.
A Cenobite takes damage in the same way, but does not have a Speed statistic.

Losing Strength

If a Human's Strength statistic drops below the number of items they are carrying, they must immediately drop items until the number again matches their Strength.

ZERO STATISTICS

Whenever a statistic is reduced to 0, the following occurs-

Humans and Skinned Humans

Strength : Drop all objects, unable to pick up or use Any objects, unable to affect Any item in the game.

Speed : Paralyzed. unable to move.

Creativity : Insane. Due to paranoid delusions, the character is now controlled alternately by the owner and the Leviathan player.

Wits : a braindead vegetable. unable to move.

Morality : Degenerate. The character is now only moved by the owner if they roll a 4,5,6.

Willpower : Robot. The character now listens to the voices in their head and is now controlled by the Leviathan player during the owner's turn.

Creatures

Strength : unable to attack.

Speed : Paralyzed. unable to move.

Cenobites

the Cenobite spends the next turn stunned and unable to move or use any actions, powers or cards for that Cenobite. next turn it is back at full health in all statistics.

CASUALTIES

If both statistics in a category are reduced to 0, the following occurs-

Humans and Skinned Humans

Physical : Character dies. Turn the figure face down it is now a corpse. The character is a casualty. Place a “dragged to Hell” counter on that square if the corpse is destroyed, but not if the corpse is turned into a Creature.

Mental : Character goes permanently Insane. Character moves randomly for the rest of the game. the character is a casualty.

Spiritual : Character becomes a Cenobite and the player is now a Leviathan player. The character is a casualty.

Creatures

the creature dies. Remove it From the board.

Cenobites

the Cenobite spends the next turn stunned and unable to move or use any actions, powers or cards for that Cenobite. Next turn it is back at full health in all statistics.

ITEMS

Room Items

Tipping: An item that is capable of being Tipped requires a Strength roll to tip it onto a target equal to the number shown on that item. Roll as many dice as you have strength. One success will tip the item. For every success, the target is trap

Obstacle: An item that is capable of being an Obstacle can be used to block doors and requires a Strength roll to move it into the doorway equal to the number shown on that item. Roll as many dice as you have strength. You must achieve at least on

Restraint: An item that is capable of being a Restraint can be thrown over a target and requires a Strength roll to move it equal to the number shown on that item. Roll as many dice as you have strength. You must achieve at least one success for e

Used room items can never be used again.

Found Items

Items have a rating in one or more statistics and may have special powers as well. The statistical rating may contribute towards solving the puzzle to open or close the gateway to Hell.
A character can carry as many items as their base Strength (ie without adding any items modifiers to the value).
Each room (but not corridor) can be searched for an item.

PLAYER ACTIONS

Human Players

During a turn a Human player may do one of the following-

If in a room tile, they may search the room

move a number of squares according to their Speed. No one can move diagonally.

perform an action (Tip, Obstacle, Restrain) on a room item If located in the same square as it.

if in the room tile with the gateway to hell, you may attempt to Solve the Puzzle

In addition to the above, a Human player that isn't searching may-

play an appropriate action card

make one attack action

use a special Power of a room

Skinned Human Players

During a turn a Skinned Human player may do one of the following-

If in a room tile, they may search the room

move a number of squares according to their Speed. No one can move diagonally.

perform an action (Tip, Obstacle, Restrain) on a room item If located in the same square as it.

If in the same square as a Human corpse, You may skin it.

if in the room tile with the gateway to hell, and wearing a skin, you may attempt to Solve the Puzzle

In addition to the above, a Human player that isn't searching may-

play an appropriate action card

make one attack action

use a special Power of a room

Leviathan Players

During a turn a Leviathan player may do one of the following-

move one or more Cenobites that are on the board

draw a card From the Leviathan deck

perform an action (Tip, Obstacle, Restrain) on a room item If a Cenobite is located in the same square as it.

In addition to the above, a Leviathan player may-

play an appropriate Leviathan card

make one attack action

move one or more Creatures

ATTACKING

Unless a Human or Skinned Human has a special item that allows other forms of attack, only a physical attack using strength is used.Creatures only make physical attacks and cannot use items.Cenobites can attack Strength, Creativity, Wits or Morality and do not use items.
The difficulty for an attack is 4. That is, every die that rolls a 4 or more is counted as a success.

Hand to Hand attacks

The total of the successes (attacker-defend) is the damage caused. If the defender exceeds the attacker in successes, the attacker takes damage.

Ranged attacks

The total of the successes (attacker only) is the damage caused. The defender cannot injure the attacker.

Attacking a room item

Only physical attacks will affect a room item. Every item has a number, occasionally this is used as a difficulty number to move the item but it is also the amount of damage it can sustain. Every success with Strength reduces the health of the item. Items do not roll any dice in defence.

Attacking a Human or Skinned Human

Humans may be attacked with Strength, Creativity, Wits or Morality. The attacker and the defender roll the amount of dice as the statistic used. The damage will either be Physical, Mental or Spiritual (see DAMAGE)

Attacking a Creature

Only physical attacks affect a Creature.

Attacking a Cenobite

Cenobites can be attacked in the same manner as Humans.

SEARCHING

It takes one turn of no other activity to search a room. Each room requires a particular statistic to search and has a difficulty number. The character rolls their statistic and requires at least one success (one die to be equal to or greater than the difficulty number). Draw a card from the Search deck. Alternatively, if the gateway has been opened, the player may draw a card from the Action deck.

SOLVING THE PUZZLE

Before the gateway is opened

Every item found contributes to the solving of the puzzle and opening the gateway.
Every time a new item is found, a check is made.

The Hell number is the largest statistic of all the item modifiers the character is carrying added together (ie two items that give strength +1 will mean that the Hell number is 2).

Roll that many dice and add them up.

The character then rolls their own statistic.

If the character rolls equal to or higher, the puzzle is not solved, and the gateway remains shut.

If they roll lower, the puzzle is solved, the gateway opens in the square of the map tile of the character, the character is sucked into Hell with all their items and the player is now the first Leviathan player. The statistic which was used is now the Puzzle Solution, and what all Human players now need to solve.

After the gateway is opened

In order to close the gateway, the Puzzle Solution must be achieved in the map tile with the gateway (but the character need not be in the gateway square). Skinned Humans cannot attempt to close the gateway until they have a skin to wear.

The difficulty of the Puzzle Solution is equal to the statistic of the first victim, plus the number of players that aren't Casualties, minus the number of Cenobites on the map, times two. i.e if there are 4 players, 3 Cenobites and the statistic of the first victim was 3, the Puzzle Solution's difficulty is 8.

The character attempting to solve the puzzle rolls as many dice as their statistic plus any items that are applicable.

One of the Leviathan players rolls as many dice as the Puzzle Solution.

Compare the totals

If the Human player succeeds, the Human player chooses a Cenobite to send back to Hell. If there are No Cenobites left, the gateway to Hell closes and the Human players win.

If the Leviathan player succeeds, the character is sucked one square closer to the gateway. If they enter the gateway, they are sucked into Hell and become a casualty.

LEVIATHAN SETUP

The Leviathan players begin the game with as many Cenobites as there are Human players. One Cenobite starts in the gateway square. The other Cenobites may only enter when particular cards from the Leviathan deck are played. If a Human player's character is turned into a Cenobite during the game, then that Cenobite stays in play on the board.

CREATING CREATURES

A Cenobite that spends 2 turns in the same square as a casualty, can turn it into a Creature. Characters that are sucked into Hell cannot return as Creatures, but may return as Skinned Humans. A Creature has only two statistics - Strength and Speed. Divide the original character's statistics between these two. Neither statistic can be above 8. Replace the character's counter with a Creature counter.

CREATURES

Creatures do not count towards the Puzzle Solution and can be killed.
Creatures move according to their speeds.

Creature Statistics

A Creature has only two statistics - Strength and Speed. Divide the original character's statistics between these two. Neither statistic can be above 8.

SKINNED HUMANS

Skinned Humans are casualties whether or not they are wearing someone else's skin. They can be damaged in the same ways as Humans.

Skinned Human Statistics

Skinned Humans retain their initial statistics. Any statistic that was 0, is now set at 1.

Skinning a Human corpse

The only way a Skinned Human can close the gateway and escape being taken back to Hell is to first get the skin of someone else to wear (can't operate the puzzle with slippery fingers after all). Even if the character does get a skin, it is still classed as a casualty and a Skinned Human.
Spending one whole turn in a square with a Human corpse enables the skin to be taken and used. Wearing a skin bestows the abilities of the original owner. Compare the statistics of the corpse to the Skinned Human - if the corpse had a higher statistic in any area, raise the Skinned Human's statistic to match it. Any Human in line of sight of a Skinned Human while they are skinning a corpse takes 1 Mental damage.

Killing a Human

A Skinned Human sucks the life out of a Human when making a hand to hand attack. They may transfer points from any statistic of their target to the same statistic of their own as damage, rather than doing normal physical damage. Every two points of statistic taken from a Human allows the Skinned Human to raise their statistic by 1. No statistic can be raised higher than 8. No target statistic can be reduced below zero.

CENOBITES

Cenobites are immortal and can not be killed, only slowed down.
Cenobites are slow moving, each Leviathan player turn, roll 1 die. You may make a total of that many squares of movement, distributed amongst all the Cenobites. No Cenobite can move more than 6 squares. Each Cenobite can only be moved once per turn, even if there are multiple Leviathan players. This means that the first Leviathan player to move a Cenobite that turn denies all other Leviathan players the ability to move that particular Cenobite.

Cenobite Statistics

Leviathan hates chaos and wishes for order. All Cenobites have 4 in their statistics. No Cenobite has a Speed statistic.Named Cenobites - the list of Cenobites, when they can appear and their special powers.

Killing a Human

When a Cenobite kills a Human or Skinned Human, their souls are taken into Hell.

Leviathan Entry Portals

Cenobites may appear in a number of locations, according to the entry card played. The only exception is Butterball who can choose to exit through a portal and appear at a different portal if he is already in play.
The entry portals are-

the Stairs

the Elevators

the gateway to Hell

A Cenobite may only enter onto the map board if the appropriate Leviathan card is played. Only the gateway to hell portal can allow Cenobites to enter if there is a non-casualty Human in the same room. All other entry portals require empty rooms to be used.
Human player characters cannot leave the map board (all exits lead to Hell until the gateway is closed).